Marc's Guest Spot ......

On Saturday the postman bought me two wondrous parcels from Marc ….  one I am forbidden to open until Christmas Day and it’s now hidden at the bottom of my wardrobe emitting wonderful lavender smells, the other was full of crafty stuff, it was like Pandora's Box  (but more of that in a later post in the New Year ….)

But I was allowed  to open the box that my Christmas card was in,  just how beautiful is it?  I admit I went all unnecessary and had to blow my nose several times ... to maintain a certain level of dignity!

It’s more than a card, its a labour of love……. …. and after Christmas I shall have it framed so it will be with me everyday on my desk at work.

I can’t believe the detail ….. the papers, the lace and the beautiful, beautiful handmade pins …….

...... and I thought I was the Queen of the Flat Backed Gem but Marc has positively usurped me!

Even the inside is exquisite, but the silly whatsit wouldn’t write inside it because he says his writing is pants!  What is he like …..?  Thank you Marc, I adore it xxxxx

Gingerbread Man Calendar

I just love gingerbread men and felt I had to make myself a little calendar to hang up in my craft room.  The shapes are made of foam with a self adhesive backing, and are so cute, especially the moggy.

All I’ve done is add “cherry” noses to all the figures using flat backed gems, plus a few for buttons here and there and a bit of faux stitching.

A Christmas Keyring Experiment, Plus Another for Luck!

……This keyring drove me mad, I should have binned it, but instead it niggled at me and I niggled back!

 

It’s the same on both sides, and is made using scraps of paper, two Christmas tree stickers and a sprinkling of glitter,  all covered in a thick layer of Ranger Glossy Accents. To be honest it does look a lot better in the flesh, and I shall be using it all through the festive season. for my work keys.

I got the keyrings for 5p each with the intention of removing the middle, however the cover was rammed in and immoveable, but me being me, I thought I could salvage something from them….

The keyring above was another experiment using scraps and illustrations from a very old illustrated dictionary and a layer of varnish! Hmmm, perhaps they need a bit of colour……. 

 

A bit better but as my old teacher would have said … “Could do better!”

Tarted Up Fluffy Felt Cards

These cards measure 11.5cm x 11.5cm.

These fluffy/fuzzy felt cards came originally from Asda a couple of years ago and as part of my crafty economy drive this Christmas I thought it was about time I used them up, but the background looked a little plain and bare …. (see below)

……. so I added a few ho, ho, ho’s and a little faux stitching round the edges, I shall send these to the younger ones in the family as they rearrange the felt pieces!

Baby Socks Christmas Stockings

As I keep saying (and I am sorry you must be so bored of it by now!) I am really trying to use up as much of  the stuff  that I have had for ages this Christmas rather than buy new. 

 

These socks were bought last year, sets of three pairs for 99p from B & M Bargains.  I have used all the ones with a Christmas motif on first, filled them with assorted festive sweets and then added a bow and tag.  I have 4 pairs of stripey socks left over and I shall probably fill them the same if these all go, but add a more elaborate festive tag to make up for the lack of motif.

Patchwork Christmas Card

This card measures 5ins x 5ins and is made using white linen effect card.

I’ve used Dovecraft Back to Basics Christmas 6 x 6 papers for this card plus a snowman from a pack of 6 from Docrafts Hot Picks range of toppers (30p the pack) and finally the sentiment is an Anita’s  Message Tag   (75p).  A bit of faux stitching finishes off the card.

Let It Snow Card

This card measures 11cm x 11cm and is made using white linen effect card.

The snowman on this card is a taken from a Cuttlebug embossing folder “Sledding” from the Winter Collection.

I’ve just mat and layered it several times on white, blue gingham and silver card, adding a bit of faux running and cross stitch. plus a snow flake embellishment.

The sentiment is in my own handwriting.

Book Review: Kids’ Crafternoon Felting by Kathreen Ricketson

ISBN 9781742700441 (Felting) - Publishing date: 1^st December 2011 – cost £14.99 Hardback

This is my second book review for hardie grant books which has made all the more exciting because I was given this Kids’ Carfternoon Felting to peruse several months before it’s actual release date, so I was one of the first people to get my little mitts on it!

As is my usual way when writing a review, rather than rewrite the publishers blurb which was sent to me and which also covers the Crafternoon series of books I’ve just copied and pasted it, so that I don’t miss out any of the important details.

  

“The Kids’ Crafternoon series puts the fun back into a kid’s afternoon – turn off the TV and get crafting! Each title contains 25 appealing projects from specialist crafters across the globe. The projects vary in complexity and the time required for completion (though never longer than a whole afternoon), while the books are structured by project themes designed to appeal to young crafters. The four titles in the series are Papercraft, Sewing, Beading and Felting.

The author Kathreen Ricketson is the founder of the phenomenally successful website WhipUp.net, which receives over 10,000 visitors each day. The projects in the Kids’ Crafternoon titles have been carefully selected by Kathreen from crafters around the world. Each book features 25 fun projects that can be completed in an afternoon With step-by-step instructions and illustrations, the projects will appeal to both boys and girls, and they range from quick and easy projects to ones that will occupy kids for a few hours Modern, colourful, appealing design”

  ….. And, so what did I think of the book? ………. Well, I really liked it, especially as the projects are pretty simple and can be completed in an afternoon, which is just right for me because I am pretty hopeless at following things through if they take too long.

I love the quality and feel of the book and the paper it is made from, plus the template pocket in the front cover containing all the templates you will need for the projects, the ring binding and the beautiful coloured photos, page borders and simple diagrams that illustrate the instructions. There is something for all abilities from the Eraser Heads (my level) …..

….to an Upcycled Sherpa Hat (above) made from an old jumper and the Zombie Critter Charms, there is something for all ages and interests, all using either felted wool or felt.

 

For the purposes of this review I decided to tackle the Eraser Head pencil toppers ….. done in four simple steps, but I substituted button eyes for googly ones and small ric rac braid for the mouth … as my hand sewing is pants!

For more information about this and other books from hardie grant please check out these links

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kids-Crafternoon-Felting-Kathreen-Ricketson/dp/1742700446

http://twitter.com/HardieGrantUK

http://www.facebook.com/HardieGrantBooksLondon

*Please note that this review is only my opinion

Do You Have A Penchant For Men In Uniform .... ...???

Louise sent me this link ..... and it NEEDS to be shared!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDZcGz4vmJc&feature=youtu.be

Nom, nom, nom!

Little Angels Christmas Cards

Each of these cards measures 5 x 5 ins and one is made using white linen effect card and the other ivory.

I’ve had these resin angels for about 4 years from a QVC sale, every year I’ve got them out and every year they’ve gone back in my Christmas box …in fact I got so fed up with them I gave a lot away.

However, this year I’ve finally done it and used them! I’ve cut a small square from a snowy blue 12 x 12 paper and mat and layered it on silver/gold.  Then I’ve added an angel and a few doodles using a white gel pen.

They are quite thick, so I am thinking that these are cards I would give personally rather than put in the post.

Are you like me, do you have a thing about which way an embellishment faces?  I always look for embellishments that face both ways …. but they are few and far between, it’s just that on some cards it’s nice to have the characters facing one another…. or am I just anal?

Christmas Tree Card

This card measures   15.5 x 11cms and is made using white linen effect card.

As I have said before,  the grounds of the school  where I work are stunning, especially after a frost or in the snow.  It was when we had snow earlier on in the year that I went out and took lots of photographs with Christmas cards 2011 in mind. 

This tree is right next to the Geography block, which is one of the departments I work for, and as soon as I saw it’s shape I thought Christmas tree, so with this in mind I have made this card is for the Head of Geography, I wonder if she will recognise it?

After printing the picture I’ve simply added a bit of Stampin’Up Dazzling Diamonds glitter on the branches and on the ground, I was going to add some flat backed gems for baubles but they didn’t add anything and just made the card look tacky.

I Love Santa

This card measures 14cm x 14cm and is made using white linen effect card.

This card looks deceptively easy, and it is now that I have got the spacings right.  The font I’ve used is 2peas High Tide, font size 80.  The glitter heart is made using a large heart punch.

http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/shop/fonts/

Festive Takeaway Favor Box

I’ve had a pile of packs of these takeaway boxes for a couple of years after I finding them in The Works and thinking I could do “something” with them! I’ve forgotten how much they were, but they were either 99p or £1.99 and still available in some shops.

Anyway this year I finally decided that they were no good languishing at the back of the cupboard, they HAD to be used and gone by Christmas!

I’ve stuck a snow line on each side of the box using white glitter card and then used a varitey of stickers that also needed to be used up to embellish them.

Because the boxes are made of plastic I was unsure about what pens to use on them but I used a permenamt black pen for the faux stitching and a white Posca pen for the snowflakes and they look pretty ok!

I’ve filled them with Tesco chocolate Christmas puddings and money, Kinder bars, chuppa pops and chocolate Santa's.  My cupboards are slowly emptying BUT I could craft for the next twenty years, twenty four hours a day and there would still be a pile to use up!

Top Tip To Tart Up A Quick Card?

No crafting today just a top tip  ….. with Christmas fast approaching perhaps like me you just haven’t got the time now to whip up yet another card, but have a few shop bought cards that you could tart up just a little and make your own ……

I found this pack of Charity bird cards in an Oxfam shop reduced to 99p in the summer ……  birds do it for me every time! All I’ve done is add twinkly clear flat backed gems to the centre of the larger snowflakes for extra festive sparkle……. sorted!

With Love At Christmas Card

This card measures 4ins x 4ins.

No faux stitching today … it’s the real thing! The heart embellishment is from a pack from Paper Bliss with a bit of mat and layering and the background paper is from Stampin’Up.  It’s funny how just a bit of stitching changes the whole tactile feel of a card.  

Dove Christmas Card

This card measures 5ins x 5ins and is made using a darkish blue linen effect card.

This was a bit of an experiment and to be honest I’m not entirely struck on it, so perhaps next year I could fine tune it …(next year, we haven’t done this year yet … have I lost my mind?)

The dove is from a small pack from PaperCellar (EMB/WD/013)).  I drew a circle round the dove directly onto the card and then added the holly leaf confetti and berries as evenly as I could with a white dot using a Signo Uni Ball gel pen.

It’s Christmas ……And I'm Flashing Like A Good 'Un!

It’s Advent Calendars akimbo and I can finally use my new shopping bag from Tesco (£3)

Hmmmm pretty but nothing special you may say …….. but … wait for this.... 


How brilliant is that????!!!  You can see me coming a mile off!!  There are little lights in middle of eight of the snowflakes which flash alternately

Old Wooden Brick Box

I have made my mum a pile her favourite cards as a small Christmas present, but I wanted to put them in a nice box too … and then remembered this old brick box I had leftover from another project, it was just the right fit for the cards measuring 19cm x 14cm x 6.5cm deep.

I decided to cover it with some paper from Limetree Craft that I got at NEC the Hobby Craft Show last year, there were 10 sheets in a pack for £1.  I thought it was perfect for the box as it just looks like a woodcut pattern.

 Before I covered it, I went round all the edges with a Promaker pen as I had cut the paper just short of the sides. I did the top in the same way, mindful that after a couple of coats of varnish it needed to slide smoothly in and out of the box. I also lined the bottom of the box. And that’s all there was to it.  I loved seeing how the tones of the box changed under the varnish and I am so pleased with how classy it looks.

All I need is to do now is add the cards, a nice pen and a book of stamps and hope my mum likes it.